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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29450490">and know they love you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/crashing_meteors/pseuds/crashing_meteors'>crashing_meteors</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff and Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:47:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,767</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29450490</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/crashing_meteors/pseuds/crashing_meteors</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>don't you ever ask them, "why?" if they told you, you would cry. so just look at them and sigh, and know they love you.</i>
</p><p>-</p><p>Din's sleep patterns change when he meets Grogu, just like everything else in his life. They're a clan of two, after all, even if only for a little while. How do you keep yourself from loving a child you know you must let go of? The answer is, you don't.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Din Djarin &amp; Grogu | Baby Yoda</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>and know they love you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time it happens is after they bid Sorgan and its inhabitants farewell. Din's never spent more than a week at rest, and even then only due to injury that absolutely would not let him work. The little village was different, though - he had to clean up after the AT-ST, felt obligated to make sure no more stragglers attacked the sleepy town, observed carefully to ensure that the kid was happy.</p><p>The last ended up being a bit of a moot point - happy doesn’t really matter if you’re dead.</p><p>The quiet planet had left Din yearning for something softer, had him sleeping for almost six standard hours at a time and dreaming more deeply than he’d dared to in years. So when something drops unceremoniously into his lap, he wakes up positively frazzled, sitting straight up and banging his helmet against the ceiling, blaster pointed idiotically at his crotch.</p><p>The kid gazes up owlishly at him, not even giving the blaster a second glance.</p><p>“Oh,” Din says stupidly, replacing the weapon in its holster and lying back down. “Don’t you have a bed?”</p><p>The little monster’s ears flop, and Din feels almost embarrassed for having asked - even though he absolutely shouldn’t.</p><p>“Fine,” is all Din says, internally congratulating himself for wearing his helmet to bed lately. It had become a habit on Sorgan, what with him staying in a stranger’s home. Apparently, his ship is no longer private, either. </p><p>He can feel the kid’s eyes on him, but he’s tired and not really in the mood to entertain. After a few minutes, though, there’s a shuffling sound, and the kid crawls onto his stomach, settling in like a lothcat would. It’s unfamiliar but not altogether uncomfortable - the kid’s body heat hardly seeps through the beskar, but the weight is strangely...nice.</p><p>So long as they get on the same sleeping schedule, Din’s fine with sharing quarters now and again. Might be beneficial, really, always having him close at hand, in case of emergencies. Purely tactical.</p><p>The kid makes a noise like a purr, and if Din grins at the sound, no one’s around to witness it.</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>The next time it happens is after the incident with Ranzar Malk’s botched heist.</p><p>The kid spends most of his sleep cycles in his Empire-grade pram, and Din can’t blame him - it looks comfier than the joke of a bed the Razorcrest was outfitted with. Upgrading Din’s sleeping quarters seems like too cushy an expense, though, especially if the kid’s not even gonna use it much.</p><p>But after things went south on two jobs now, resulting in nearly deadly situations for both of them, Din’s not exactly shocked the baby’s reaching for him in the pitch blackness of his quarters.</p><p>“Alright, greeny,” Din says, allowing his companion to scramble up into his bed after finding the boy just outside when he got up to take a leak. The kid wastes no time, crawling up his leg like a clumsy spider and slotting himself at Din’s side.</p><p>“Hey-“ Din starts to argue, because for such a tiny thing the kid takes up space, and on a bed this small, that’s a hot commodity. But Din bites his tongue when he lowers his hand and finds the little thing shaking, ears tucked in around his big green head, face pressed fearfully into Din’s beskar side.</p><p>Between the brat bounty hunter and Mayfeld and his crew, the poor kid must be scared to death. Din reaches down and smoothes his bunkmate’s ears, one and then the other, in a slow, repetitive motion, and the kid’s shaking slows to a halt, only to be replaced by the telltale sounds of sleep.</p><p>Din continues to pet the long ears, so unlike anything he’s ever seen before. Gingerly, he removes one of his gloves and holds the very tip of one ear between his thumb and forefinger, before placing it carefully back down. The kid is unlike anything Din’s felt before, either, soft and fuzzy and so very fragile. Din vaguely wonders if he could possibly be comfortable, lying between pure beskar and a cot that may as well be made of the same stuff.</p><p>How much could a new bed cost, anyway?</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>It becomes second-nature, after a while. They go about their day, they get into trouble, they eat some slop - and when it's time for bed, they settle in Din's cot, or the pilot's seat, or some soft spot on the ship that the kid's found, but they always settle in together. Din isn't sure when he begins feeling ill-at-ease when the little gremlin isn't around for bedtime, but it happens a lot faster than he'd like to admit.</p><p>Of course, it's not until after meeting Bo-Katan, after finally getting a lead on the Jedi, that Din realizes the idea of sleeping alone sounds akin to misery. The kid seems to be of a similar mind if the way he's clung to any part of Din he can reach lately is any indication.</p><p>Worse, still, are the nightmares, which Din had yet to experience with the child until now. He'd never thought the little thing capable of such a loud scream, until he wakes up to the sound.</p><p>"Hey, hey," Din murmurs, groping around in confusion, searching for the kid, who is currently tucked into his side. He lifts the little, trembling thing up, up, up to his chest, holding the kid close. "It's okay, it's just a nightmare."</p><p>The kid shakes still, making quiet, fearful noises, even as it opens its big sleepy eyes and stares up at Din in confusion. Din doesn't even hesitate, leaning down to gently press his helmet against the baby's forehead.</p><p>"I'm right here, little one," Din whispers, and the kid leans back against the helmet, arms reaching up and around as if to hug it.</p><p>Later, when the baby finally falls back asleep, Din wonders if the Jedi tuck their children in at night. For a single, selfish moment, he thinks that if they don't, maybe he shouldn't let his kid go with them.</p><p>Foolish, of course. Ridiculous. He's probably too soft on the little womprat, anyway.</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>They get in a quick nap before Tython. Din knows he's keeping Grogu awake - he can't stop calling his name, relishing in the way Grogu tilts his little green head curiously every time. When Din finally stops testing the waters (after a particularly exhausted snort on Grogu's part), he allows Grogu to crawl into his lap as he usually does, and fall into a deep slumber.</p><p>Din knows that his best chance of finding a Jedi is on Tython. He knows that goodbye is coming, sooner or later. He knows that he'll have to let the kid go, let <i>Grogu</i> go, and put all of this behind him.</p><p>He does a very good job of that, for an hour or so. Then, while Grogu snores softly in his lap, while Din strokes those big, soft ears, the words come tumbling out, like they've been fighting to break free of his sealed lips, and the dam has only just broken.</p><p>"<i>Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad</i>, Grogu," Din whispers, cradling the boy as close as he can without disturbing his sleep. "I know your name as my child, Grogu."</p><p>Grogu coos contentedly, entirely unaware. Din chokes back a sob and tries to get some rest.</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>"You need to sleep," Fett tells him after spending far too much time on Slave 1 without a moment's pause.</p><p>"Tried," Din replies shortly. "Can't."</p><p>Fett tilts his helmet, and Din almost thinks the elder bounty hunter will argue, but he just leaves Din be, muttering something about a sedative. The cruel, horrible little part of Din's mind harshly wonders what will happen if they don't find Grogu - will he ever sleep again?</p><p>It feels like it would be a righteous sort of punishment, to not even be able to dream he has his son back.</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>Fett drops Din and Cara off on Nevarro, much to Bo-Katan's chagrin. Outnumbered four to two, there hadn't been much room for argument - just a firm declaration that they would discuss Mandalore and the Darksaber soon enough. It was a good thing she didn't see the rude gesture Fett had thrown her way, or they'd never have parted ways peacefully.</p><p>Din is sure Fett is going to leave without a second glance, but he lays a heavy hand on Din's shoulder. It feels too close to his face, now, with the helmet off.</p><p>"You need to sleep," Fett repeats, softer than the last time. Din chuckles weakly.</p><p>"Tell me something I don't know." Fett does not remove his hand, does not look away.</p><p>"The sooner you get it over with, the easier it will be," Fett tells him simply. "The first night is the hardest."</p><p>And then he and Fennec are gone. Din does sleep that night, eventually, though it is fitful and restless. In the morning he reaches for the familiar warmth he's grown so accustomed to, and comes up empty-handed.</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>-</p><p>Everything feels heavy, his thoughts, his limbs, the space around him. Somewhere in the back of Din’s mind is a terrified child screaming “droids!”, but he’s too groggy to care. He doesn't remember how he got here - something for Mandalore, maybe? All he knows now is this pounding headache and the way his chest feels ready to collapse.</p><p>A voice he recognizes but can’t quite place is telling him he’ll be alright, that he’s lucky he’s so connected to the Force, or they wouldn’t have been able to find him.</p><p>“Force?” Din slurs. “Don’t even...know what that is.”</p><p>“Not you,” Luke Skywalker chuckles fondly, “your boy.”</p><p>The words act as a spell - Grogu’s okay, he’s safe, you can rest - and Din sinks into unconsciousness.</p><p>There’s no telling how long he’s been out - it feels like years, considering how hard it is to even force his eyes open, but he wakes up only because something small and weighty shuffles around on his belly, grunting and squeaking as it moves.</p><p>He blinks once to get the sleep away, twice to focus, and a third time to register the giant orbs blinking rapidly at him. Grubby little hands reach forward eagerly, and the weight (heavier than he remembers) moves from his belly to his chest to his neck, settling in the familiar curve of his shoulder, rubbing its green head against his bare cheek.</p><p>“Hey, kid,” Din says sleepily, reaching up and over to scratch at Grogu’s ears before settling his hand behind his son’s back, nestling the boy close. “You’ve grown.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a little piece I've had stuck in my head for a while. The way Din and Grogu grow more and more comfortable with each other is something I really love about The Mandalorian, and I wanted to explore a little bit about how their routines have changed. I'm still heartbroken about the finale, even if I'm sure they'll be reunited. I guess that's where the ending came from. I hope you enjoyed.</p><p>Title from Crosby, Stills, and Nash' "Teach Your Children".</p></blockquote></div></div>
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